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Photo by Elaine Nahli | Coming to Light Exhibition Now Open Until March 6th |
In this issue: Building Science industry Night | Margery Winkler Lecture with Lisa Rapoport | M.Arch Craft Symposium | Women in Architecture Across Canada Symposium & more! |
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ARC Studio Upgrade:
Supporting the next generation of design professionals
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Students spend countless hours in design studio, but many don’t have a secure place to store what they need each day. This semester, we’re upgrading the studio experience by adding Steelcase mobile storage pedestals for third- and fourth-year students.
Join Moses Structural Engineers, Gow Hastings Architects, UOAI, EMS Advisors, Plstic Studio, Simon James Design, and DAS Alumni from 1983 in supporting this initiative.
With FEAS RELIEF (Renewed Experiential Learning & Integrated Equipment Fund), every donation is being matched—dollar for dollar—until Feb. 14, thus doubling your impact.
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To designate your gift, choose "Architectural Science" from the dropdown menu.
Read more about this initiative here. |
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Upcoming Events |
Building Science Industry Night
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The Graduate Building Science Program at Toronto Metropolitan University would like to invite you to participate in our Industry Night this year, on February 11th, 2026 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at 325 Church Street, Toronto!
The objective of this event is to have companies and individuals attend and showcase some of their latest projects and developments to give building science graduate and undergraduate students an understanding of what is happening in the industry. This Industry Night event is also an opportunity for companies and students alike to network and form relationships for prospective employment in the future.
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Building with Hempcrete Workshop
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Tuesday, February 24th | 6:00 PM
TMU Building Science Lab, 325 Church St.
Hosted by studioDEEP, join us for this hands on hempcrete workshop with Kris Bailey from Dwellings Design-Build!
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Margery Winkler Lecture: Lisa Rapoport
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Thursday, February 12th | 6:30 PM
ARC 202, 325 Church St.
Design as Experience
How do we enable rich experiences of place? At PLANT, we do not ask what a project will look like, but instead how does it enable the visitor, user, or community to build their own experience, to revel in a sense of discovery, to want to touch it, to want to share it with other people. Our projects actively promote noticing the land and history, finding resonance in it, and building community by creating collective memory and experience. What ‘it’ looks like emerges from that exploration. As a practice that creates architecture, landscapes and installations, we have been able to explore these questions across a broad range of small to very large private and public projects. Some of these will be discussed in this presentation.
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| YOUTUBE CHANNEL |
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M.Arch Symposium on February 26th
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The first year M.Arch class is excited to introduce the 2026 Craft Symposium on February 26th!
Inspired by a study trip to Venice, the M.Arch 2027 cohort proposes a symposium exploring the state of craft in Toronto and contemporary architecture. Examining authorship, the architects role, and the place of craft in architecture: we invite you to explore craft through accessible, tactile, and engaging workshops and talks with industry professionals.
Stay tuned for more information and dates. |
| REGISTER HERE |
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Save the Date - Taking Stock:
Voices of Women in Architecture Across Canada Symposium
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“Taking Stock: Voices of Women in Architecture Across Canada” is a 2-day symposium at Toronto Metropolitan University, Department of Architectural Science, 6-7 March, that brings together students, architects, academics, advocates, historians, journalists, policymakers, statisticians, and others to share knowledge and experiences, advance essential conversations, and spark systemic, embedded change in pedagogy, practice, and policy for women in architecture.
This event is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), researchers from Laurentian University, McGill University, Ontario College of Art and Design University, Toronto Metropolitan University, and University of Toronto, as well as partners Black Architects and Interior Designers Association, Building Equality in Architecture North, Building Equality in Architecture Toronto, KPMB Architects, Northern Ontario Society of Architects, Ontario Association of Architects, Society of South Asian Architects, and Together Design Lab. |
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Women in Architecture (WIA) Symposium
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March 12 | 6:30 PM
Location: Upper Atrium, Architecture Building
The Architectural Course Union (ACU) at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Department of Architectural Science is proud to present the third annual Women in Architecture (WIA) Symposium.
Through the Layers: Women Shaping Architecture Across a Career explores how women navigate architecture across the full arc of a career, from graduation and early practice to leadership, entrepreneurship, and broader professional impact. Moderated by Assistant Professor Jennifer Esposito, the panel will bring together women working across different branches of the built environment to share their experiences, career transitions, and lessons learned along the way.
The symposium is designed to connect students with professionals, highlight diverse post-graduation pathways both inside and beyond traditional design practice, and offer honest insight into building sustainable and meaningful careers in architecture. |
| REGISTER |
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CAFÉ 2026 Exhibition:
Learning from the Land: Indigenous-Led Design at DAS
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Learning from the Land: Indigenous-Led Design at DAS
Presented as part of CAFÉ 2026
Learning from the Land features student work from Indigenous-led courses at DAS. Presented by the Canadian Architecture Students Association (CASA-ACÉA), the exhibition showcases selected student work from ARC920 Advanced Architecture Design Studio (Fall 2024, Fall 2025), led by Erik Skouris (Two Row Architect), and AR8106 Current Topics in Architectural Praxis: Indigenous Form Making (Fall 2025), led by James Bird (Massey College / Moriyama Teshima Architects), along with other Indigenous curriculum development initiatives in DAS.
Installed in the DAS Upper Atrium, the exhibition highlights architectural inquiry grounded in land-based perspectives and community knowledge, reflecting diverse approaches to investigation and research within the Department of Architectural Science. The exhibition forms part of the Canadian Architecture Forums on Education (CAFÉ 2026) programming taking place across Canada, including a keynote panel on March 20 at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto - details coming soon.
A casual launch of CAFÉ Toronto 2026, with brief remarks, will take place to open the exhibition on Monday, March 9, at 12:00 PM, DAS, Upper Atrium.
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Extracurricular |
Window Installation STRATA at DesignTO |
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Inspired by the Northern Lights, STRATA reflects the way light drifts across terrain, translating this natural phenomenon into layers of material that shift in color and tone - recreating the immensity of the Aurora Borealis in an intimate storefront window. Featured at DesignTO, with support of Choice Properties and Yonge+St.Clair, visit the installation at 1521 Yonge St. #6 between January 23 - February 13, 2026.
Student team: Dhruvan Modugula (lead), with Ambreen Dhaliwal, Arjun Jain, Zain Malik, Dhruvan Modugula, Jullian Pretti, Lior Shnee |
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Student Opportunities |
Register to participate in the 2026 CCA Charrette |
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Entitled “Night Swimming,” this exciting competition is for architecture, landscape, urban planning and design students. Teams of 2-5 undergraduate students or 2-3 graduate students attending Canadian universities or recent graduates will have five days to complete a proposal.
The winners, selected by a panel of professionals, will receive publications from the CCA and be featured prominently on the competition's microsite. Additionally, all participating projects will be showcased on the microsite.
Registration required by March 9th; Details released March 11. Submissions due March 16.
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Design Competition:
Tactical Urbanism Now! The Revolution of Public Space |
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Participants are invited to explore how temporary, lightweight interventions can act as powerful tools for testing ideas, responding to local conditions and rethinking the future of public space.
Rather than fixed solutions, this competition looks for proposals conceived as prototypes: flexible, testable and rooted in real urban life. Whether addressing climate stress, reclaiming space for people or strengthening community ties, the goal is to show how small-scale interventions can unlock new possibilities and reshape the urban experience over time. Submissions due by October 20, 2026.
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ACSA Competitions |
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ACSA has a long precedence in creating and providing competitions for students and faculty. ACSA competitions are national and international in scope, offering unique opportunities to investigate, develop, and challenge systematic approaches to design. Entries are critiqued and judged by a jury of experts with diverse backgrounds. Competitions also assist instructors with developing a range of design challenges for use in their courses. |
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National Capital Commission Design Challenge 2026:
Student Ideas Competition |
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The NCC’s Design Challenge 2026: Student Ideas Competition for the National Capital Region is now live. The study site is the Ottawa River shoreline in Gatineau, Quebec. The competition is open to university and college students in urban planning/ urbanism, landscape architecture, architecture, urban design, fine arts, engineering and other related design programs. Registration and all relevant planning and policy documents are available through the competition webpage. Participation is free and the deadline for registration is January 23, 2026. Submissions are due on March 23, 2026. The winning team (maximum 4 people per team) will be invited to present their ideas at a public Urbanism Lab event in Ottawa on April 29, 2026. |
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Kaira Looro International Architecture Competition:
Community Center in Africa |
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Kaira Looro is the most important and influential architecture competition in the world, open to students and young architects, with the aim of discovering new talents and adopting sustainable architecture models for humanitarian purposes, to improve living conditions in developing countries. The winners, selected by an international jury composed of the best architects in the world, receive prestigious awards. We seek an architecture that goes beyond mere construction, one that restores dignity, strengthens identity and rights, and reflects the universal values of solidarity and shared humanity. Early registration opens January 8 and closes February 28.
Submissions due June 7, 2026! |
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Green Building Solutions 2026:
Scholarship application opens in January |
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Scholarships offering a reduced participation fee of EUR 890, including accommodation and full program access, are available for master’s-level students in built-environment fields who demonstrate academic excellence, English proficiency, relevant experience, and financial need; eligible applicants must apply by April 30, mentioning their partner institution and submitting a motivation statement. |
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CASA Call: Student Work Showcase |
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Calling all Architecture Students! The Canadian Architecture Student Association (CASA-ACÉA) would like to celebrate the excellence of Canadian architecture students from across the country with an open call to submit work to the 2026 Student Work Showcase. The work will be displayed at the 2026 RAIC Conference in May in Vancouver and nationally across CASA-ACÉA media to continue our efforts to profile student work to professionals, potential employers, peers, and the public. Deadline: April 1. |
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Light of Tomorrow:
International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture |
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Same competition – new name.
The International VELUX Award for students of architecture is relaunched as Light of Tomorrow by VELUX for the 2026 edition of the competition and award!
Kickstart your journey – REGISTER NOW
Begin your journey by downloading the Award Brief
To receive updates and notifications, registration details, and key dates for the 2026 edition – sign up for our newsletter.
Get inspired by browsing the 2024 projects and previous winners:
About Light of Tomorrow by VELUX 2026
The competition and award challenges students to explore the theme of daylight – to create a deeper understanding of this ever-relevant source of energy, light, and life. |
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2026 FORM Student Innovation Competition Now Open! |
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Submit your furniture design projects by Feb. 27, 2026, for your chance to win a trip to join Formica Corporation at NeoCon 2026 and a cash prize!
Formica Corporation invites architecture and design students to submit a furniture design embodying the theme “mood-boosting design”.
As expressive, meaningful and mood-boosting spaces are on the rise, Formica Corporation is inviting students to answer the call and create furniture pieces that inspire, emotionally uplift and spark joy. This can come to life, for example, with bold colors, unexpected color combinations, layered textures — all elements that can be achieved by experimenting with optical and physical textures across Formica Corporation’s product range. Pieces can be used for any residential and commercial setting and must incorporate at least three or more Formica® Brand and/or FENIX® products.
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Competition - Spatializing Justice: Building Blocks |
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Critical intervention into the urban field requires first recognizing the contested spatial and institutional power dynamics that drive today’s urban and bio-regional crises. The 2026 Lyceum Fellowship competition asks participants to first expose and visualize a particular conflict—reflecting on the requisite political, economic, social, and spatial processes—then design the conditions to tackle this conflict. |
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Competition: Mass Timber Innovation and Design Center
of Canada |
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Design Unlimited is thrilled to share the newly announced international architecture competition: Mass Timber Innovation and Design Center of Canada (Vancouver). We’re reaching out to see if you’d like to integrate it as a Spring 2026 studio project for your undergraduate and/or graduate semester.
Set in Stanley Park, the project challenges students to envision a habitat-sensitive, high-performance campus that advances mass-timber innovation through design research, prototyping, and public exhibition—woven into the park’s meadows, forest, and trail network. |
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External Events & Opportunities |
DAS participating in AAHA SuperStudio lectures |
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The full line-up of online lectures can be found here. |
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Open call for publication grant - MCH+TC Cuadernos |
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Support grant for research and publication of thesis/research on collective housing and the city, organised by MCH Master in Collective Housing UPM-ETH!
Organised by MCH with the collaboration of TC cuadernos
Requirements: Research proposal in PDF format.
1- Completed thesis or research work. The support is for the adaptation of the work into a book.
2- Thesis or advanced research work less than one year for reading.
3- Start of research.
There is also a firm commitment on the part of the international publishing house TC Cuadernos, to include in this call for applications the publication of the book, in a bilingual edition (English-Spanish), covering the costs of printing and distribution, as well as layout and translation.
A grant of up to €6000 will be awarded to support the thesis/research.
Competition rules
Master in Collective Housing MCH - https://www.mchmaster.com/
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid UPM + Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich |
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SSAC 2026: Call for Sessions |
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SSAC 2026: Call for Sessions
Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada – 51st Annual Conference
Saint John (New Brunswick)
May 27–30, 2026
Theme: Open Fields / Champs libres
For its 51st annual conference, the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada will gather in the beautiful city of Saint John, New Brunswick. The conference will take place from May 27 to 30, 2026.
Building on the stimulating experience of the 50th anniversary conference in Ottawa, SSAC is once again proposing an edition without a prescribed theme. Under the title Open Fields, SSAC aims to offer a space open to the plurality of approaches, subjects of study, and methodologies that nourish research on the built environment in Canada. |
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TMU Programming |
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Check out TMU's Wellbeing Central - a one-stop website for wellbeing resources for TMU students, staff, and faculty. |
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Grad Photos: Attention all Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 Graduates |
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Winter Grad Photo dates have just been added for TMU graduates!
You must have your photo taken by Lassman Studios Photography to appear in your respective Graduating Class Composite.
All Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 graduates are eligible for a free class composite from the TMSU (formerly RSU).
Available for pick up at your convocation ceremony and at the TMSU starting in June 2026!
Click here book your appointment:
You can also book by following these 2 easy steps:
1. visit https://www.lassmanstudios.com/dcs_sched/
2. enter tmu26 in the school ID to access the schedules.
Find a time that is convenient for you and book it.
Both Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 are welcome to attend the sessions. New sessions get added weekly as the schedules fill up so please check back to the site if you cannot find an appointment that works with your schedule.
Questions? Contact info@yourtmsu.ca or questions@lassmanstudios.com
Grad Photos and Class Composites are a service of the Toronto Metropolitan Students' Union in Partnership with Lassman Studios. |
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TMU Student Care - Reminder of Services |
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By promoting community standards of respect, civility and safety, TMU Student Care supports students in distress and those in need of personal support. Students, faculty and staff can contact the office by email studentcare@torontomu.ca.
Students in need of counselling may contact the Centre for Student Development and Counselling, at csdc@torontomu.ca. Indicate “Architecture” in the subject line for prioritized appointments.
If you are in distress and need immediate assistance, please reach out to: The Gerstein Centre 24/7 Distress Line, a free, confidential support line for anyone experiencing an emotional crisis and needing immediate assistance: 416-929-5200; or Good 2 Talk, a free, confidential counselling support line specifically for post-secondary school students: 1-866-925-5454
If you are concerned about your own safety or the safety of a TMU community member, please contact TMU Community Safety and Security at: 416-979-5040, security@torontomu.ca, or for emergencies, please call 911. |
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Giving Tuesday |
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Give today and help unlock opportunities for students who need it most. The ripple effect starts with you—let’s open more doors together: https://ow.ly/qM4o50Xt7a6
Your gift today helps students overcome barriers, dream bigger and do more. Let’s open more doors together and keep the ripple effect going. Support TMU students: https://ow.ly/qM4o50Xt7a6 |
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Alumni News |
Call For Mentors |
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Are you ready to give back to the next generation of architecture leaders?
The Discover Mentorship Program at FEAS matches senior career professionals with third and fourth year students. Our goal is to provide students with professional development, support, and guidance as they prepare to embark in meaningful careers.
Mentorship can inspire and motivate students to achieve their full potential in the transition from university to the professional world. If you have five years of career experience and would like to learn more about getting involved as a mentor, please contact Kieran Lynch at kieran.lynch@torontomu.ca.
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Missed an event? |
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Most of our guest lectures are live-streamed. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch our recordings! |
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Department of Architectural Science, Toronto Metropolitan University
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